{{Short description|Ugandan writer}} {{Use British English|date=August 2014}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2026}} {{Infobox writer |birth_name = Austin Bukenya | image = | caption = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1944|02|10}} | birth_place = Masaka, Uganda | death_date = | death_place = | occupation = Poet, playwright, novelist and academic administrator | nationality = Ugandan | education = | alma_mater = Makerere University Namilyango College | genre = Novels, plays, poetry | subject = | notableworks = ''The People's Bachelor'' (1972); ''The Bride'' (1987) | influences = | influenced = | awards = | Twitter = | website = }}
'''Austin Bukenya''' (born 10 February 1944) is a Ugandan poet, playwright, novelist and academic administrator.<ref name=newvision>[http://www.newvision.co.ug/news/654271-prof-challenges-gov-t-on-role-of-humanities.html Prof. challenges gov’t on role of humanities] newvision.co.ug. Retrieved 7 May 2014.</ref> He is the author of the novel ''The People's Bachelor'',<ref name=edirisa>[http://www.edirisa.org/studioarchive/?p=1510 "The People’s Bachelor – the greatest Ugandan novel"] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140508223606/http://www.edirisa.org/studioarchive/?p=1510 |date=8 May 2014 }}, edirisa.org. Retrieved 8 May 2014.</ref> and a play, ''The Bride''.<ref name=joankivanda>[http://joankivanda.wordpress.com/the-bride/ The Bride… a review Words on Austin Lwanga Bukenya’s The Bride], joankivanda.wordpress.com. Retrieved 7 May 2014.</ref> He has taught languages, literature and drama at Makerere University in Uganda and universities in the UK, Tanzania and Kenya since the late 1960s. He has also held residences at universities in Rwanda and Germany. Bukenya is also a literary critic, novelist, poet and dramatist. An accomplished stage and screen actor, he was for several years Director of the Creative and Performing Arts Centre at Kenyatta University, Nairobi.<ref name=badilishapoetry>[http://badilishapoetry.com/artists-profile/301/ Austin Bukenya] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140520044251/http://badilishapoetry.com/artists-profile/301/ |date=20 May 2014 }}, badilishapoetry.com. Retrieved 7 May 2014.</ref>
==Early life and education== Bukenya, who prefers to be called Mwalimu, was born in 1944 in Masaka town, Southern Uganda, where his father worked as a policeman. His family later moved to Kitukutwe 15 miles from Kampala. His father was a staunch Catholic who would narrate biblical stories which he would alternate with his mother's folk stories. According to Bukenya, these stories inspired his imagination.<ref name=redpepper>[http://www.redpepper.co.ug/the-future-of-young-writers-is-online-bukenya/ The Future for Young Writers is Online – Bukenya] redpepper.co.ug. Retrieved 7 May 2014.</ref>
He attended Gayaza primary school and joined Kisubi Seminary where he studied three languages, French, English and Latin. This would soon inform his literary thinking and future academic career. His growing passion for literature was soon cemented at Namilyango College, where he took his O- and A-level exams.<ref name=namilyangocollege>[http://namilyangocollege.sc.ug/students/alumini/ Student Alumini] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140526014344/http://namilyangocollege.sc.ug/students/alumini/ |date=26 May 2014 }} namilyangocollege.sc.ug. Retrieved 7 May 2014.</ref> In 1965, he went to Dar es Salaam University where he continued to nurture his keen interest in Language and Linguistics in addition to a growing interest in Kiswahili. He studied the Language Linguistics and Literature and Education (LLLE) for his undergraduate course. Most of Bukenya's writings are in Kiswahili, he attributes this to his grandmother, whose roots can be traced back to Dar es Salaam. He was also inspired by linguistic teachers including Wilson Whitely, a British author famous for his book ''Kiswahili: the Rising of a National Language''. Bukenya joined Makerere as a postgraduate student in 1968 and later developed the oral literature course.<ref name="redpepper"/> He also studied at universities in Madagascar and England, and took his higher degrees at Makerere and Kenyatta Universities. He has taught languages, literature and drama at Makerere University in Uganda and universities in the UK, Tanzania and Kenya since the late 1960s.<ref name="badilishapoetry"/>
==Writing== A poet, a novelist and a keen actor, Bukenya was introduced to theatre and inspired to become a writer by his parents who were strong believers of Kiganda traditions. This immersion of theatre in everyday life was also a part of Bukenya’s education who grew up in a Ugandan village where he “witnessed numerous performances of children’s traditional songs and dances, games and rhythms” that inspired and influenced his writing career. Bukenya wrote his first prizewinning play in 1964, based on stories told to him by his mother. He has since written numerous plays and radio dramas, but only managed to publish two of his plays, ''The Secret'' and ''The Bride''.<ref name="joankivanda"/>
Bukenya’s works include ''The Mermaid of Msambweni'', ''The Bride – a play in four parts'', and ''John Ruganda’s The Floods'', among others. He has taught in Kenya at Kenyatta University, and also Bayreuth University, Department of African Studies in Germany. His recent publication, ''A Hole in the Sky'', focuses on the need to protect the environment and honours the late Kenyan Environmental activist and Nobel Laureate Wangari Maathai.<ref name="redpepper"/> Bukenya's work has been featured on the pan-African poetry platform Badilisha Poetry Radio.<ref name="badilishapoetry"/> He is an honorary member of FEMRITE.<ref name=femriteug>[http://www.femriteug.org/?view=1 FEMRITE Membership], femriteug.org. Retrieved 7 May 2014.</ref>
==Published works==
===Novels=== *{{cite book|title=The People's Bachelor| publisher= East African Publishing House| year= 1972}}
===Plays=== *{{cite book|title=The Bride| publisher= East African Educational Publishers| year= 1987| isbn= 9789966463616}} *{{cite book|title=A Hole in the Sky| publisher= Oxford University Press (EA)| year= 2013| isbn= 9780195738162}}
===Literary Criticism=== *{{cite book|title=Notes on East African Poetry Volume 13 of An H.E.B. student's guide| publisher= East African Publishing House| year= 1972}}.
===Educational books=== * {{cite book|title=Head Start Secondary English: Form 1|publisher= Oxford University Press, East Africa Limited|year= 2003|ISBN= 9780195731262}}, * {{cite book|title=Oral Literature: A Junior Course [forms 1 and 2]|publisher= Longhorn Publishers|year= 1998|ISBN= 9789966494320}}, with Jane Nandwa and muyigai Gachwanga * {{cite book|title=Understanding Oral Literature|editor=Austin Bukenya, Wanjikũ Mũkabi Kabĩra|publisher= Nairobi University Press|year= 1994|ISBN= 9789966846310}}, with Wanjikũ Mũkabi Kabĩra and Duncan Okoth-Okombo * {{cite book|title=The Skills of English: An Integrated Course of Language and Literature|publisher= Oxford University Press|year= 1989|ISBN= 9780195726930}}, with Arnold Curtis and James Park * {{cite book|title=John Ruganda's The Floods: Volume 1 of H.E.B. advanced study companion|publisher= Heinemann Kenya|year= 1986}} * {{cite book|title=African Oral Literature for Schools|publisher= Longman Kenya|year= 1983|ISBN= 9780582609945}}, with Jane Nandwa
===Anthologies=== *{{cite book|title=The Mermaid of Msambweni and Other Stories: An Anthology from Africa| publisher= Oxford| year= 2011|isbn=9780195733778}}
===Poems=== *Naturally, in {{cite book|title=Revival: An Anthology of African Poetry|editor=Dick Dawson|publisher= College Press|year= 1989|ISBN= 9780869259177}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20140520044251/http://badilishapoetry.com/artists-profile/301/ "A Dancer's Challenge"] in Badilishapoetry, 2014 *[http://2bnileavenue.blogspot.com/2006/02/i-met-thief.html "I met a thief"]
== References == {{Reflist}}
== External links == * [http://www.oralliterature.org/about/oralliterature.html "Definitions and understandings of oral literature"] * [https://web.archive.org/web/20140702032538/http://vc.mak.ac.ug/events/238-of-oracy-orature-textology-and-clapping-chairs.html "Of Oracy, Orature, Textology and Clapping Chairs "] * [http://ugandaradionetwork.com/a/story.php?s=50956 "Professor Bukenya: Chinua Achebe Inspired My Writing"] * [http://observer.ug/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=31203%3A-stop-discriminating-against-humanities&Itemid=96 "‘Stop discriminating against humanities’ "] *[https://web.archive.org/web/20140917035948/http://independent.co.ug/society/book-review/707-literature-growth-in-uganda "Literature growth in Uganda "] * [http://www.africareview.com/Arts-and-Culture/-/979194/1407612/-/huq3rh/-/index.html "Storytellers paint Uganda's pyramid of ancient wisdom"] *[http://gonetilnovember.wordpress.com/2008/04/ "I got it"] *[http://mobile.nation.co.ke/lifestyle/Kings-of-Ugandas-heritage/-/1950774/2049758/-/format/xhtml/-/4oh1hez/-/index.html "‘Kings’ of Uganda’s heritage"] * [http://artmatters.info/heritage-formerly-culture/2013/11/africa-must-embrace-traditional-values-or-perish/ "Africa Must Embrace Traditional Values or Perish"] * [http://dennoznewspaperarticles.blogspot.com/2011/11/is-this-time-for-ugandan-writers-to.html "Is this the time for Ugandan writers to shine again?"]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Bukenya, Austin}} Category:Living people Category:1944 births Category:People from Masaka District Category:Makerere University alumni Category:Ugandan male short story writers Category:20th-century Ugandan poets Category:Ugandan novelists Category:Academic staff of Makerere University Category:Ugandan dramatists and playwrights Category:People educated at Namilyango College Category:21st-century Ugandan poets Category:Ugandan male novelists Category:Ugandan male poets Category:20th-century short story writers Category:21st-century Ugandan short story writers Category:20th-century Ugandan male writers Category:20th-century Ugandan writers Category:21st-century Ugandan male writers